Three Little Beavers

"Beatrix the beaver longs to be good at something.
Her brother Bevan is an expert at repairing the
lodge with mud and twigs. Her sister Beverly is a
superb swimmer and underwater gymnast. What
makes Beatrix stand out? One day, she runs away
by swimming up the creek and finds yummy plants
to eat and trees to gnaw. When her siblings set
off to find her, all Three Little Beavers wind up
trapped! It takes some simple engineering on the
part of the humans who set the traps, and Beatrix’s
discovery of her special talents, for the people and
beavers to finally find a way to live in harmony.

This fictional story includes a 4-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 35-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. Three Little Beavers is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension."

Vetters: Thanks to Sheila Cohen, Visitor Use Assistant at Prince William Forest Park; Oklahoma Aquarium educators Ann Money and Michelle Zarantonello; and beaver experts Dr. Steve Windels and Tawnya Schoewe for reviewing the accuracy of the information in this book.

Reviews:

This would be a wonderful addition to a unit on animal adaptations as well as one to use to remind students that we all have unique gifts. - Library Media Connection

Also included is a four page section titled For Creative Minds which is filled with intriguing facts about beavers, their habitat and ecological impact on the environment. This inclusion is sure to satisfy inquisitive young readers who are interested in learning more about beavers.- Portland Book Review

Beatrix the beaver fails at necessary tasks that her siblings Beverly and Bevan master (e.g., dam building); when all three get caught in cages, she finds that she excels at staying calm. They're soon released into the wild in an improbably happy ending to this highly anthropomorphized story. - Horn Book Guide

Author/Illustrator Info:

Jean Heilprin Diehl is the author of Loon Chase and Three Little Beavers for Arbordale. Her other books for young readers include the middle-grade novel Tiny Infinities, and picture book collaborations with Loon Chase artist Kathryn Freeman, Paloma’s Pie and What Color is Fred? Jean has also written numerous leveled readers for the education market, and her award-winning fiction for adults has appeared in journals and anthologies. She and her family live near Washington, D.C. For more information, visit Jean’s website at www.jeanheilprindiehl.com.